Cal introduces head coach Sonny Dykes

CAL FOOTBALL Sonny Dykes introduced Bears' head man vows better days on field, in classroom

Updated 11:52 pm, Thursday, December 6, 2012

In another example of how you never get a second chance to make a first impression, it was Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour's first meeting with the man she eventually would hire as her head football coach that proved most impactful.

"I met with Sonny early in the process and when he walked out of the room, I said to myself, 'I think that's the guy.' We met with a relatively large group of fellows, but I kept coming back to Sonny," Barbour said.

So Sonny it is, 43-year-old Sonny Dykes, late of Louisiana Tech and the nation's highest-scoring offense in 2012. Barbour met with him three times over the course of a week before deciding he was the man to pull Cal football out of the nosedive that cost Jeff Tedford his job Nov. 20.

Six days later, Barbour convened a campus committee of 18 people from academics, athletics and administration to hash out the qualities it was seeking in a head coach. Rugby coach Jack Clark, women's swimming coach Teri McKeever and current football players Allan Bridgford (a quarterback) and Nick Forbes (a linebacker) were among those on the committee.

"Until you meet the man and speak to him, probe his values, you don't know the man," Barbour said. "You don't know what an incredible fit he is to lead these young men. He is what we drew up in the conference room on Nov. 26. He is committed to student-athletes in all facets of their lives. He has sought out the challenge of a rigorous academic university."

Sonny Dykes is center stage at Memorial Stadium, where he'll have his first game as Cal's head coach against Northwestern.

Sonny Dykes is center stage at Memorial Stadium, where he'll have his first game as Cal's head coach against Northwestern.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

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Cal introduces head coach Sonny Dykes

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Barbour said Dykes' contract first must be approved by the university before it's presented for public inspection. It's undoubtedly a multiyear deal, say four or five years, for several million dollars; details to come within a week or so, Barbour said.

Before getting his first head-coaching job at Louisiana Tech, Dykes was offensive coordinator at Arizona (2007-09) under former head coach Mike Stoops, now an assistant at Oklahoma.

"Sonny has the unique traits of his father in him, that West Texas grit," Stoops told The Chronicle, referring to longtime Texas Tech head coach Spike Dykes. "I think there's a lot more of his dad in him than people know. He's very tough, he's very positive and he's very emotional. I think he has a great sense of what it takes to be successful."

Dykes, a native Texan, was introduced Thursday in a news conference at Memorial Stadium, accompanied by his wife, Kate, and young daughters, Charlie and Ally. He promised an exciting brand of football and stressed, several times, that the academic performance of the team must improve after reaching its nadir in the last year of Tedford's tenure when Cal football had the lowest graduation rate in the Pac-12 Conference.

"We've got to improve. We know that," Dykes said. "I believe there's a direct correlation between academic success and athletic success. It's our message to get the academic part fixed."

To that, Bridgford said, "It's all about shortening the gap between the most committed person and the least committed. If you're trying, you'll be fine. We have the resources here to give people help. We have to change our culture to be more disciplined."

As for the product on the field, Dykes is a proponent of the "Air Raid" spread offense from shotgun formation that thrives on quick tempo plays, both passing and running. He was inculcated in this style of play under Hal Mumme at Kentucky and Mike Leach at Texas Tech.

"Our brand of football is fun," Dykes said. "That's what's exciting for the football fans out there. We're going to put the ball in the air and score points."

Louisiana Tech led the nation in scoring in 2012 at 51.5 points per game. That's the good news. The bad news is that Dykes' team had the worst defense in the country in yards allowed per game and was near the bottom in points allowed.

"We figured out a way to win, and that was to outscore people," he said of his Louisiana Tech team. "That's not how we want to make a living."

Dykes said his most important hire will be his defensive coordinator. Dykes said he expects to have three or four assistants in place in the next few days, with a goal of having his full 2013 staff in place over the next two weeks.

"My No. 1 job is to have the best defensive coordinator I can find in the U.S.," he said. "I have four or five names I plan to interview."

One of those probably will be New Mexico State head coach DeWayne Walker, who is likely to be fired or otherwise leave the school after posting a record of 10-40. Walker was a Cal assistant in 1996 and '97.

Of the five assistants on Tedford's staff who were retained to handle recruiting in the interim, Dykes said he will meet with each of them before making a decision on whether to keep them.